How To Make Music Like PAWSA (Too Cool To Be Careless)

How To Make Music Like PAWSA (Too Cool To Be Careless)

In this tutorial, Niek from The Producer School breaks down how to make music in the style of PAWSA, whose beatport number one track Too Cool To Be Careless became a standout minimal house record. The video covers the two core elements that define the track - a funky bass guitar and a snappy Serum pluck - as well as drums, vocal processing, guitar layers, and a simple but effective arrangement approach built around contrast.

What Is the Sound of PAWSA and Why Does It Work?

PAWSA is known for making tracks that feel groovy and energetic while remaining surprisingly simple in their construction. The magic lies in the bass guitar groove and the minimal drum arrangement - there is no wall of sound, no heavy layering of synths, just a tight and focused selection of elements that all serve the central groove. The BPM for this style is 128, which is the typical tempo for minimal house. What makes PAWSA's sound stand out is the combination of a funky bass guitar with fast octave jumps, a short and snappy synth on top, and a very tight drum sound with controlled transients. If your main groove and main idea are strong, you do not need to overthink the rest.

How to Create the Funky Bass Guitar Sound

The bass guitar is the single most important element in this style. The MIDI pattern is built around fast switches in octaves and notes - for example, jumping from a D to an A and back to a D very quickly. This kind of movement is what creates the distinctive funky feel. For the actual bass sound, the BooBass plugin from FL Studio is used as the base instrument. It is a stock plugin and works well for this purpose. Processing is what makes the difference:

  1. Set project BPM to 128
  2. Write a funky bass MIDI with fast octave switches and note jumps
  3. Load BooBass (FL Studio stock plugin) and boost the low frequencies
  4. Add Decapitator with drive set to 3, normal mode - adds grit without destroying the low end
  5. Apply a steep high cut to remove high-mid and treble frequencies
  6. Add a multiband compressor (SoundGoodizer) to beef up the body
  7. Apply sidechain to avoid clashing with the kick

The result is a warm, gritty, and punchy bass guitar that sits firmly in the low-mid and sub area. If you want an even more realistic bass guitar sound, Kontakt-based bass guitar instruments can get you closer, but BooBass is accessible and effective for most purposes.

How to Design the Snappy Serum Pluck Sound

The second main element is a short, snappy pluck made in Serum that provides the top melody or chord stabs above the bass. The patch is built from a square wave on oscillator A with PWM modulation, and a mini saw wave on oscillator B with just one voice of unison. The detuning is achieved through the fine tune setting rather than unison, using values of -6 and +11 cents for a subtle analog-style detune. Envelope 1 is shaped short with some release to give that snappy character, and is linked to the PWM modulation as well as an MG Low 24 filter. Juno 106-style noise is also routed through the same filter. In the FX chain, a low cut removes unnecessary low-end, a Vintage Chorus set to mode 1 at 50% mix adds warmth inspired by the Juno sound, and Decapitator adds a small amount of grit. No delay or reverb is used - keeping it dry and short is what gets it close to the original sound.

  • Oscillator A: square wave with PWM modulation
  • Oscillator B: mini saw wave, 1 voice of unison
  • Fine tune detune: -6 and +11 cents
  • Envelope 1: short with release, linked to PWM and MG Low 24 filter
  • Added: Juno 106 noise routed through filter
  • FX: low cut EQ, Vintage Chorus mode 1 at 50%, Decapitator - no delay or reverb

What Makes PAWSA's Drums Tight and Punchy?

The drums in this style are minimal and precise. The kick comes from the Dimension sample pack and has Decapitator applied for a distorted, thumpy character. A closed hi-hat loop in a 1/8th rhythm is then added - this hi-hat is slightly longer than typical closed hats and is the essential element for the groove. Next is a shaker loop processed with a transient processor that has the release brought down to around 50%. This tightens the tail of the shaker significantly - the difference between full release and reduced release is subtle but audible, and this kind of tight transient control is a key characteristic of the PAWSA sound. A clap and garage-style snare are layered together without any reverb for a dry, locked-in feel. Finally, a vinyl noise sample is added very low in the mix to give the drums a vintage texture.

  • Kick: Dimension pack, Decapitator for distorted thump
  • Hi-hat: closed loop in 1/8th rhythm, slightly longer tails than typical
  • Shaker: transient processor with release at ~50% - very tight
  • Clap + snare: layered, no reverb, dry and tight
  • Vinyl noise: very low in mix for vintage texture

How to Add Vocals and Guitar Layers

For the vocal, a housy vocal loop from Splice is used. Processing includes a ping-pong delay to widen the sound, a small amount of reverb with the wet level at around 20%, and a low cut for clarity. An ad-lib vocal clip is added between phrases to fill the space and add personality. For a pre-drop section, a standard snare fill is used as a transition. The guitar layer comes from the slap guitar instrument built into Ableton Live's browser. The FX chain on the guitar includes an EQ with a low cut and high boost, Decapitator for grit, a Vintage Chorus in mode 2 (slightly different from the synth version), a Phase Mistress on a guitar preset for a wah-style effect, a short slap delay, some reverb, and a KickStart sidechain at 60%. Two guitar variations are used - one for the pre-drop and one with a different melody for the drop section itself.

  • Vocal: housy Splice loop, ping-pong delay, reverb at 20% wet, low cut
  • Ad-lib vocal: added between vocal phrases
  • Guitar: Ableton slap guitar instrument
  • Guitar FX: EQ, Decapitator, Vintage Chorus mode 2, Phase Mistress, slap delay, reverb, KickStart at 60%

How to Arrange a Minimal House Track in the PAWSA Style

The arrangement for this style is all about creating contrast through subtraction rather than addition. Most of the key sounds are already in place early on - the arrangement works by strategically removing and reintroducing them. The intro has all elements except the vocal. A break section removes the kick and adds a low-pass filter automation on the bass guitar, creating a more subdued, filtered sound. Another break removes the bass entirely, leaving just the drums and vocal - and this minimal combination still sounds tight because the groove is already strong. A pre-drop re-introduces the kick without the top melody, then the drop brings everything back together including the guitar layers and ambient pad. The ambient pad follows the key of the track and adds sustained texture. A simple horn stab from a Diva preset in D minor is also layered in the drop for extra harmonic interest.

  1. Intro: bass guitar + top pluck + drums (no vocal)
  2. Break 1: remove kick, add low-pass filter automation on bass guitar
  3. Break 2: remove bass entirely, keep drums and vocal
  4. Pre-drop: re-introduce kick without top melody
  5. Drop: all elements + guitar layers + ambient pad + horn stab
Tech House Complete Sample Pack by The Producer School

If you want to explore the sounds used in this tutorial further, the Tech House Complete bundle from The Producer School includes sample packs for minimal and tech house productions. You can find all the details and more previews at the link above.

Tutorial by Niek, co-founder of The Producer School. For more production tutorials, subscribe to The Producer School on YouTube (280K+ subscribers).

Back to blog